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Center for Constitutional Rights Issues Statement of Support for Occupy Wall Street

OWS Shows the Power of Dissent

Contact: press@!ccrjustice.org

October 14, 2011, New York – Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement in support of the Occupy Wall Street protesters:

The Center for Constitutional Rights stands in full support of the Occupy Wall Street protestors. Your emerging movement represents the growing discontent with ever-increasing disparities among the rich and the poor, and it is an inspiring step towards a true and organic people’s movement demanding the social and economic rights that have long been denied to the majority of this nation. OWS shows the power of dissent, a power and a right that law enforcement has long sought to criminalize and repress.

The Center for Constitutional Rights condemns the brutal and aggressive policing tactics employed by the NYPD and we call on them to cease targeting the OWS participants. Both Brookfield Properties, the private company that owns the space, and the City of New York are obligated to respect the First Amendment rights of the protestors and allow them to stay, free of provocation and violence from the police.

OWS is providing the opportunity for thousands of people with a shared purpose to come together and create a platform for all of the voices seeking sustained and far-reaching economic justice. We support the many conversations taking place at Liberty Plaza and we value the experience of a community building itself, learning to give voice to all participants, and working out issues of race, gender, safety and more. At the same time, you are calling out economic injustice and promoting human rights, no small feat.

The Center for Constitutional Rights recognizes that the grassroots, leaderless, horizontally-organized nature of OWS is one of its greatest strengths. We embrace you.

The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.